Author: Lisa Mungovan

Every year, Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska has a “fattest bear” competition. Fat Bear Week features different bears each day, and you can see the contestants at explore.org. The chubby cubby appetizer, Fat Bear Junior, took place last week. Bear 128, nicknamed Biggie, was the winning cub. The yearling weighs 200 pounds!

Today is World Rhino Day, and Elephant Appreciation Day. Both animals are endangered. Poachers hunt rhinoceroses for their horns, and elephants for their tusks. Their habitats are also disappearing. The white rhino is the largest rhino species, averaging about 5000 pounds and 6 feet tall, while the largest African elephant was 13 feet tall and 24,000 pounds!

It’s Hobbit Day, in honor of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’s birthday. Hobbits eat breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper, so there’s plenty of time to celebrate White Chocolate Day and Ice Cream Cone Day. It’s also Centenarian Day, celebrating people who have lived 100 years. That’s a hobbit’s average lifespan!

Today is World Car Free Day. You could just stay home, but where’s the challenge in that? Instead, try to walk, bike, or use public transportation for your daily adventures. Then make a pact, to try to use cars less. It’s better for the planet, and the exercise will keep you healthy!

Pumpkin spice everything has been popping up for a few weeks now, but today is the official first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. The autumnal equinox occurs when the sun is directly in line with the Earth’s equator. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the first day of spring, called the vernal equinox!

The Journal of Improbable Research, awards Ig Nobel Prizes. Vikash Kumar and Sarthak Mittal won the Engineering Design Prize, for creating a shoe rack that uses UV light to kill foul-smelling bacteria on shoes. The Aviation Prize went to researchers exploring whether ingesting alcohol can impair bats’ ability to fly, and also their ability to echolocate.

Did you know, it’s Sea Otter Awareness Week? Sea otters are the heaviest members of the weasel family, and one of the few mammals to use tools. They float on their backs while eating, using rocks to pound shells open. Their dense, super-fine fur keeps them warm, with 1,000,000 hairs per-square-inch!

Did you sleep in late today? If you missed breakfast, and it’s closer to lunchtime, celebrate Brunch Day, with the best of both meals. Pancakes and spaghetti totally go together. It’s also Sponge Candy Day, a crunchy sweet made with sugar, corn syrup, vinegar, and baking soda. Find a recipe online and start cooking!

Today is the United Nations International Day of Peace. This year’s theme is Act Now for a Peaceful World, encouraging people of all races and ethnicities, to create an environment where peace can thrive. Foster peace at home, by not fighting with your siblings, then bring your peaceful attitude to school, too,

It’s Miniature Golf Day. Many beach towns have mini golf courses with dinosaurs! After getting a hole-in-one, have a snack to celebrate Pecan Cookie Day, and Chai Day. Since it’s also World Gratitude Day, sharing spiced tea and pecan cookies is a great way, to thank whoever took you golfing.